Fact sheet
14264 is dark grey regolith breccia with large rounded lithic clasts. 83% of the sample is matrix, which contains class of plagioclase feldspar, olivine, pyroxene, ilmenite, troilite, metallic iron, glass and agglutinates. Our thin section is from one of the lithic clasts.
The sample weighed 117.8 grams before analysis. It has not been dated.
Further details of this and other Apollo samples are here: http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/
The Apollo 14 landing site was in a region formed by impact-basin debris.
Most of the 42 kilograms of rocks and soil collected on Apollo 14 are breccias (rocks that are composed of fragments of other, older rocks). In some cases, the rock fragments that form a breccia are themselves breccias. Such rocks obviously have experienced complex histories with multiple generations of impact events. Some breccias were heated enough that some of the material in the rock was melted.
Apollo 14 was launched on 31 January 1971.